A Jar of Nazis

They Saved Hitler’s Brain (1968) boasts one of the best sci-fi movie titles of all time. However, it wasn’t Hitler’s brain they saved, but rather his whole head from the neck up. And the head is alive, stored safely in a glass jar, not unlike where you’d put jellybeans or oatmeal raisin cookies.

For the first hour +, the done-on-the-cheap movie (adapted from the 1963 feature film, Madmen of Mondoras) is nothing more than spy vs. spy, with people shooting each other and traveling to South America (where Hitler’s noggin is shelved) to shoot at each other some more.

Everyone’s trying to gain possession of Hitler’s glowering face and rolling eyes. He can talk, but only has one line. (He mostly just makes facial emojis.) Not sure why his notorious upper lip goatee remains neatly trimmed; it’s not like you could take the head to a barbershop for a little off the top. Heh. Maybe they change the movie’s title to They Shaved Hitler’s Brain.

So how did Hitler survive, even though the fake news said he committed suicide like a sniveling b*tch in 1945? A team of doctors surgically removed his head as Allied Forces were closing in so that Hitler could fall back and regroup his Nazi efforts to once again try and take over the world.

Preparing to detonate a gas bomb that would kill everybody in Mondoras (that’s just plain mean), the head jar, sitting in the back seat of a car driven by his loyal followers, is being relentlessly pursued by the opposing team. A few well tossed hand grenades later brings the display case face to a candle melt-y end. Is the movie over at this point? Nope — there’s few celebratory smooches and even a what-the-heck-let’s-get-married cap to put on this head.

Ghost Shark: Bites From Beyond

2013’s Ghost Shark is memorable for a number of reasons, sub-budget special effects/dialogue/acting notwithstanding. But first you have to ignore the plot, which gives Ghost Shark its rai·son d’ê·tre.

After being fed a hand grenade thrown from a fishing boat by redneck a-holes, Ghost Shark’s corpse floats into a half-submerged cave where early settlers performed satanic rituals. (Okay, what?) It is here Dead Shark is converted into a glowing, transparent kill-beast able to trans-morph out of any body of water, be it a fire hydrant, bath tub, swimming pool, mud puddle and even a bottled water drinking fountain. And this is exactly what makes Ghost Shark’s 84 minutes of dumbassery entertaining.

GS crashes a pool party and devours teenagers. GS opens wide and swallows little kids on a Slip ’n Slide™, an unsuspecting youngster shooting down the shark’s throat as if a human oyster on the half shell. A mayor’s assistant pouring himself a cool and refreshing paper cup of thirst quenching death after GS leaves the bottled water container and is delivered to the assistant’s insides, where it splits the guy in half during the chewing out. (This scene alone is worth an Academy Award.)

Time wasters until Ghost Shark straps on the feedbag: a drunk lighthouse keeper, savaged by guilt for killing his wife in said satanic cave years ago who seeks revenge on GS. Not sure how that works. The smack-talking mayor going on a Jaws-driven balance-of-justice boat ride. (His crunchy death – being sucked down a watery toilet – as a true feel-good moment.) Tthen there’s the never-ending parade of young girls in bikinis and a really, really fat guy riding a jet ski that looked like it might get permanently lodged into FG’s ass crack on the next wave.

Back to the bikinis: Most horror films feature young gals in their 20s, probably still in community college or of X-rated movie age. Not so with Ghost Shark; The girls running around in kite string swimsuits are barely (heh) in high school. I felt somewhat dirty watching Ghost Shark make fish bait out of jail bait. I would’ve showered my shame away afterward, but hey – Ghost Shark possibly coming through the nozzle.

P.S. Ghost Shark 2: Urban Jaws (pending 2015) is not a sequel or related to Ghost Shark. It’s an indie movie (i.e., made with two New Zealand guys and a Best Buy™ video camera) that was supposed to have come out in 2010. Time to put down the Foster’s mates, and show us some of your Down Under horror. Okay, that didn’t come out right.